Friend tried reaching out to boy who died

Updated 11:50 pm, Friday, January 4, 2013

Crystal Williams, 27, and Charleston Williams, 25, were arrested Friday on a felony charge of injury of a child related to the death of 5-year-old Josiah Williams.

Media: Express News

At a barbecue in late November, a family friend noticed a “scared, sick, fragile and thin” Josiah Williams, and tried three times over a period of days to reach out to the 5-year-old.

Each time, the friend says, he was rebuffed by the boy's guardians, who told him Josiah was in trouble and not allowed to come to the phone or have visitors, according to court documents.

No more than a month later, the man and his wife learned Josiah had died.

The boy's father and stepmother — Charleston Williams, 25, and Crystal Williams, 27 — were arrested last week and charged with injury to a child, a first-degree felony. Both remained behind bars Friday afternoon in lieu of posting $75,000 bail each.

His step-grandmother, Gloria Proo, 48, who police believe took a leadership role in disciplining the child, was arrested late Thursday on the same charge. She also remained jailed in lieu of posting $75,000 bail late Friday.

Police were called to the Williams home in the 3900 block of Gayle Avenue on Dec. 27 because Josiah wasn't breathing. They reported finding the boy bruised and underweight.

Photo: Courtesy Photo

Image 1of/6

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 6

San Antonio police made a third arrest Thursday night related to the death of 5-year-old Josiah Williams one week ago. Gloria Proo, 48, was arrested on one count of felony injury to a child. Bond had not been set for her late Thursday.

San Antonio police made a third arrest Thursday night related to the death of 5-year-old Josiah Williams one week ago. Gloria Proo, 48, was arrested on one count of felony injury to a child. Bond had not been

Gloria Proo, 48, was arrested on one count of felony injury to a child.

Gloria Proo, 48, was arrested on one count of felony injury to a child.

Photo: Michelle Casady/Express-News

Image 3 of 6

Charleston Williams, 25, was arrested Friday on a felony charge of injury of a child related to the death of his 5-year-old son Josiah Williams.

Charleston Williams, 25, was arrested Friday on a felony charge of injury of a child related to the death of his 5-year-old son Josiah Williams.

Image 4 of 6

Charleston Williams, seen in a Dec. 29, 2012 booking mug provided by the Bexar County Sheriff's office, was arrested Friday and charged with injury to a child in the death of his son Josiah Williams, 5.

Charleston Williams, seen in a Dec. 29, 2012 booking mug provided by the Bexar County Sheriff's office, was arrested Friday and charged with injury to a child in the death of his son Josiah Williams, 5.

Photo: Bexar County Sheriff's Office

Image 5 of 6

Crystal B. Williams, seen in a Dec. 29, 2012 booking mug provided by the Bexar County Sheriff's office, was arrested Friday and charged with injury to a child in the death of her stepson Josiah Williams, 5.

Crystal B. Williams, seen in a Dec. 29, 2012 booking mug provided by the Bexar County Sheriff's office, was arrested Friday and charged with injury to a child in the death of her stepson Josiah Williams, 5.

Photo: Bexar County Sheriff's Office

Image 6 of 6

Stuffed animals, candles, flowers and handmade posters are placed at the home where Josiah Williams, 5, died. He had signs of "prolonged malnutrition," bruises, cuts, tears and gashes all over his body, and two black eyes.

Stuffed animals, candles, flowers and handmade posters are placed at the home where Josiah Williams, 5, died. He had signs of "prolonged malnutrition," bruises, cuts, tears and gashes all over his body,

Recalling his condition in the fall, the couple contacted police and relayed what they had seen.

“I was just heartbroken by the sadness I felt from him,” the man said. “It plays like a record in my head, the words he said to me the first time I met him at the barbecue. He just kept saying, 'I am so bad. I am such a bad person.' I told him, 'No you're not; you're just a kid.'”

The couple have asked not to be named after receiving threats related to their cooperation with police.

The concerned couple didn't come forward immediately because they thought it might be an isolated incident, they said.

Most Popular

“We were conflicted,” the woman said Friday. “They had two other happy, healthy children they seemed to be caring for without problem, and we didn't want to take it out of context.”

Her husband said he felt the same way.

“They really did a number on me, because I actually thought they were looking out for him, that they were going to get him some help and turn it around,” he said. “I left that day thinking things would get better.”

Child Protective Services has taken custody of the Williams' two other children and a hearing in their case is scheduled Jan. 9.

Josiah was in the custody of his father and stepmother for six months before he died. He was taken from his mother when she was sent to prison.

During the three-hour party in late November, Josiah was forced to stand in a corner and not move or look at anyone, the couple said.

When the child looked back, the witnesses told police, Proo told him to turn around and get back into the corner. The child looked back a second time, and Proo allegedly came up from behind, grabbed him by the back of the head and slammed it against a wall three times, a police affidavit shows.

“If he died in that house somewhere besides that corner, I would be shocked, because that's where he always was,” said the family friend, who's also a mother of young children.

Police reported finding holes in a closet wall that appeared to be the size and circumference of a child's head. There also was blood inside the closet.

The visiting husband and wife were told by the boy's guardians that Josiah had behavioral problems. The man said he asked the child to go outside with him to talk, and gave Josiah his phone number in an effort to befriend the boy.

He said Josiah “spoke to him like a normal child,” the affidavit says.

In their short talk that day, he said he was able to make small connections.

“Once he stopped crying, I got him to talk about what he liked to do,” he said. “He likes to go to the park and run around and swing, and he also said that he loved to eat Whataburger. But as soon as we turned to go back inside, he changed. Five-year-old kids aren't supposed to have a care in the world, but he looked like he had grown-up, adult problems. I can't imagine the pain he went through every day.”

When they went back inside, the man asked Josiah to sit next to him, but the child said he “was not allowed to sit with everyone else because he 'pooped' on the furniture,” the affidavit said.

Other children at the home were eating pizza, and when the man tried to give Josiah some, Proo allegedly said the boy was not allowed to have any. He eventually was fed leftovers once the other kids were done eating, the witnesses said.

Two days later, the man said he called to talk to Josiah, but his stepmother, Crystal Williams, said the boy was again being punished and she did not allow them to talk on the phone or in person.

The witness returned to the house a few days later and saw Josiah still was banished to the same spot near his bedroom.

The affidavit also says Proo once taunted the child with an empty beverage container that his 8-year-old stepbrother left on a counter after returning home from dinner with the rest of the family.

Josiah's stepbrother told police that Proo offered Josiah the grape drink, but the child declined because he “didn't want to get into trouble.”

After Proo convinced him to take the drink from her, she laughed when he realized the container was empty, the witness said.

The family friend also recalled one time Crystal Williams and Proo told her a story about how Josiah had been forced to stand in the corner so long he fell asleep standing up and fell backward, hitting his head on a step.

“And they laughed and laughed re-telling it,” she said. “Like it was funny.”

The couple said Crystal Williams did not have a good relationship with Josiah's biological mother, and would talk about not wanting to care for Josiah while the child was within earshot, even saying that Charleston wasn't his real father.

“Crystal had so much hate for his mom,” she said. “She hated that woman more than she could have ever loved that child.”

M.E. Rodriguez is handling funeral arrangements for the boy, but a spokeswoman said the family has asked they not release information about when the services are scheduled.